The Most Beautiful Woman in The Prado…
Spain in general, and Madrid in particular, is full of handsome men and very attractive women. Given this fact of nature, The Prado most certainly has hosted many appealing ladies, including famous actresses and alluring models; yet, I’m sure I know the most beautiful woman who has ever graced its glorious halls…and if you know where to look, she is easy to find, always there, and awaiting admirers.
Enter the great museum and head upstairs. You, like most of the other visitors, likely will be overwhelmed by the treasures on this floor. There are five or six rooms showing the works of the great Velazquez, including the incomparable Las Meninas.
The beautiful lady is not in any of these rooms, but everywhere you turn you will see the cornerstones of our western civilization, from epic paintings of the indomitable Goya…
…to the amazing, luminous paintings of El Greco…
No ‘painted words’ are needed here! These master works have passed the test of time. Long after the unintelligible shapes and colors of ‘modern art’ have passed out of fashion, and the pamphlets which were used to ‘explain’ it have fallen into the trash bins, people will continue to line up in front of these paintings, agape, in wonder.
But still, our beautiful lady has not yet been found. Take a last look at the Velázquez paintings in Room 10, or make a detour from the rooms displaying the great El Grecos. Coming by either entry point, you have now arrived to Room 9. Normally, this is a quiet sala; leaving the crowds that are clustered in front of the other, more famous paintings on this floor, you are likely to be alone with her…
There she is, the Penitent Magdalen. She is stunning. Her overall aura takes your breath away.
Mary Magdalene, traditionally identified as the woman who was a sinner, and who wept on Christ’s feet, and then who wiped away her tears with her hair (Luke 7:36-50). Here, she is shown as the hermit saint, having given up her previous life of moral decadence after meeting the Savior. She is kneeling in prayer at the entrance to her cave, hands clasped together, with her eyes opened wide, raised upward to heaven.
The painting, done by the Spanish artist Josepe de Ribiera in 1641, is astonishing in so many ways. As a woman, this Mary Magdalene is radiantly gorgeous. She is portrayed with an alluring milky white complexion, long, flowing flaxen hair, and an exposed shoulder. Even though she is now deeply faithful, elements of her seductiveness obviously remain.
It is her ‘humaneness’ that makes her so interesting…she is both sinner and saint. Her sumptuous clothing and exposed shoulder suggest the ways of her former life, while every thing else points to her new vocation. She is at the entrance of her hermits cave, and she exudes an air of piety. In the lower right, there is a jar of ointment, recalling both the perfume with which she anointed Christ’s feet and the expensive spices she took to His tomb on Easter morning to embalm His corpse. She appears deep in prayerful meditation. Jesus has changed her forever.
When next you are in Madrid, go search her out; but beware, she is likely to make a lasting and haunting impression on your soul.